The Truth Is Out There
It all happened 10 years ago. Back then, I lived in Seattle, the place where I grew up. I had many friend back there, but my real best friends were Franklin, George, Victor and one Russian guy called Vladimir. We were just a teenagers back then. Everything went good and smooth until one day everything began. It was a New Year's Eve, December 31, 2004. We were celebrating at Franklin's house. Everyone was there, except Vladimir. He went to Moscow to celebrate New Year with his parents. One year ago, a social network called Facebook went up, and all of us had profiles on that network. At the time, it was very rare, even for adults. Moments after midnight, Franklin opened up his Facebook profile to say "Happy New Year" to all of his friends. He went to inbox where he received only one message. We took a look at the message. I could't believe it. The message was something like this: "Hello, My Old Friend. You thought that you can escape from us that easily, didn't you? Well, now we are back, and this time, you are not going to escape." I asked Franklin what was this about. He answered that Vladimir was just kidding with him and said that it was just a part of their game. His sounded a bit unsure when he said that. I was pretty suspicious. We slept at his house that night. I honestly, couldn't sleep because of that message. On January 3, 2005, surprisingly, I got a phone call from Vladimir. He told me that he is going home tomorrow. He also told me that he couldn't access his profile for days. I told him nothing about the message. Vladimir asked me to tell our little group about his arrival from Moscow. Next day was such a stressful and horrible day. One of the worst days of my life. In the morning, my father was watching a news about a plane crash. I decided to watch it with him. The plane was flying from Moscow to Seattle. The news also said that the plane crashed because of the attack of an unknown terrorist group. I started to panic. I tried to call Vladimir, but he was not answering. I also called his parents. After a few missed calls, they finally answered. They were speaking some words in Russian that I couldn't understand. I also heard that someone in the background was crying. Later that day, I went at Franklin's. Everyone was there. They had told me. Vladimir died in the plane crash. Victor started to cry. Franklin looked like he knew something. Me and George were in shock. We still could't believe that he's gone. Nothing was happening for days. But everyone had started to see that something strange was going on with Franklin. He was not leaving his house, he wouldn't let us in, he stopped communicating with us. Franklin lived in a house with his grandmother and grandfather. His parents got divorced and they went to another cities. One day, in the middle of February, me and George went to Franklin's house. His grandma opened the door. She told us that he locked himself in his room for days. George and me had decided to break into the room. George broke the door. The following scene was something like a Hollywood movie. Here's the entry of my diary that describes the event: "When I entered the room, I saw the blood on the walls. Then, I looked to the right. The scene that will most likely stay in my head for the whole life. Franklin's dead body was lying on the floor. There was no much blood underneath him, but his head was covered with blood. I also saw a shotgun which he held in his left hand. There was also a broken window which let the air in. Computer was still turned on, with his Facebook homepage on the screen. There was also a text with his handwriting. I suggest that it was his suicide note. I felt such a horror in myself that I immediately vomited. George vomited too, and Franklin's grandma went unconscious. She died later that night. February 16th, 2005." I couldn't describe how I felt back then. I felt like something was eating me from inside. I couldn't stop crying. I lost two of my best friends in the range of two months. I always asked myself: "Why? There must be a reason. It couldn't be the accident. I was desperate to find the answer. To find the truth. I had to start with the facts. Many things were not matching. # Franklin's grandmother, grandfather, nor anybody in the neighbourhood heard shots of any kind. # No one gave him a shotgun, and he didn't know how to shoot a gun. # The bullet found in his head was not a shotgun bullet, but it was a bullet from a pistol. # His computer was still turned on at the time of his death. The screen showed his Facebook homepage. # The thing that is mostly strange is that the only window of his room was broken. The thing that was really interesting to me is something that is believed to be his suicide note. For me, it did not imply to a suicide. I rewrote the transcription of it to my diary. "This was too much. I can't handle it anymore. It's too much for me. Please, I beg of you, please leave me alone. PLEASE!!! I have nothing to do with it. I don't wanna die like my parents did. Why did you kill them? PLEEASSE!!! I'll do everything! Please spare me!!! Please spare me!!! PLEASE SPARE ME!!!!!!" It's a short one, but it tells everything. Someone was after him and his family. His parents probably died in a similar way. They were killed. With all this evidence I think that Franklin was killed too. Official investigation was closed in a few days. The conclusion of the case is that it was a suicide. I wanted to forget. I wanted to escape from it. It had nothing to do with me. I still didn't realise what it had to do with Vladimir. Why did he have to die? Why everything happened at all? Nothing was same again. George, Victor and me were not meeting in person. We were only communicating through Facebook. On March 22, I saw that someone entered Franklin's profile. That was strange, because he died more than a month ago. Someone sent me a message from his profile. The message was: "Hello, My Old Friend. We are coming to get you!" ''I was completely frightened. I thought that I was going to die. Right then, a message came from Victor's profile. It said: ''"My Old Friend, there's no escape." ''It totally scared me off. Almost instantly, I received another message from George. That message was: ''"Hello, My Old Friend. We are coming to get you, there's no escape." ''George sent me identical messages that sent the other two. I thought that George and Victor were just kidding with me, but Vladimir's profile was online and immediately I got a message from him: ''"Please spare me, spare me, spare me!!!" ''Right then, I felt fear for my life. I really didn't want to die. That night, I fell asleep very easily. But somewhere between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM I instantly woke up. I felt that someone was watching me. Right then, my whole room was shined by a strange light. I saw only that light. I felt such a fear. Couple of seconds later, I saw nothing. I woke up in a white cubic room. The room was totally empty. I was floating in the air. I thought that I died, but I felt a pain in my chest, so I definitely wasn't dead. Then, I heard a some kind of a creepy robotic voice. I got these words into my head. Even today, I can't forget it. It's haunting me. I remember every word: ''"Don't worry, you are not dead. You are not going to die. Unfortunately, your friends are dead. They are just a collateral damage. Your Old Friend, Franklin, is a part of a one big thing. The thing you cannot know. The thing that is called: The Truth. Goodbye, My Old Friend." Even today, I don't realise why I survived. Why they spared only me. In May 2005, I went to Victor's house. There was no house there at all. I asked the neighbours about my friend. They said that there was no house at all. Same thing with George, Franklin and Vladimir. They just disappeared. Like they never existed. That year was the strangest year in my whole life. And things that happened in it are the strangest things that happened in my life. I know everything, but I know nothing about it. Who were they? Or what were they? What did they want? What is their final goal? Why I had to be a part of that? How can I be still alive? What is the truth? Am I ever going to discover the truth? Those are only some of the questions that are going through my mind every day. The questions I have no answer to. In August 2005, I moved with my parents from Seattle down to Los Angeles, the place I live today. I deleted my Facebook profile before we moved. I told myself: "I'm never gonna have that shit again!" Last year, I went to Seattle to remind myself of the events. There's only one thing I know for sure: "The truth is out there".